PAULA GUISADO
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ELSA MARTÍN
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Saturday, December 7 2019 - 03:14
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- COP25. All the news of the Climate Summit
- Emissions The concentration of greenhouse gases reaches a new record
- Contamination. Human health and that of the planet go hand in hand
One of the focuses of the Climate Summit that is held these days in Madrid - the last before the new cycle that begins in 2020 - is the commitment to the total reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) , which continue to increase due to human action and have consequences such as the increase in the temperature of the Earth, the rise in sea level or changes in the climate.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most present gas. But in the equation there are also other pollutants such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases . The UN Environment Program has made it clear: if GHG emissions are not reduced by 7.6% every year until 2030, we will not meet the objective of limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees.
At the moment, not only has it not been possible to tend to a global decrease in emissions - Spain emits 18% more GHG than in 1990 - but one of the most polluting countries, the United States, is in the process of breaking its promise
This is how the most polluting countries have evolved
China is the main emitter of CO2 into the atmosphere. Its emissions have increased by 306% since 1990 , which makes it the region that has most increased its pollution. It is closely followed by India , which launched 878 million tons of CO2 in the early 1990s and in 2017 emitted 2,466.
The European Union , for its part, has reduced its CO2 emissions by 20% since 1990. At the end of November, the European Parliament declared the "climate emergency". MEPs approved, with a large majority, a resolution calling for urgent action to fight climate change "before it's too late."
" Climate change concerns us all . We have a duty to act and the power to lead," said Ursula Von der Leyen, newly appointed president of the European Commission.
Russia also now emits less greenhouse gases than then ... but more than in the year 2000. The global trend continues to be, despite progress, increasing. And the parties have come to the meeting in Madrid with an ultimatum : either we put the batteries or we will stop being able to reverse the situation.
Those that emit more per inhabitant are not seen on the map
Emissions have a direct effect on the weather. The umpteenth confirmation comes from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which in its latest report links greenhouse gases resulting from human activity with phenomena such as rising land temperatures, rising sea levels and large losses of The ice mass.
" Increasing levels of GHG in the atmosphere are a fundamental cause of climate change," says the study. And he warns: the concentration of CO2 in the air has reached record levels. In 2015, global levels exceeded the symbolic threshold of 400 parts per million. In 2018, the concentration of CO2 in the air reached 407.8 parts per million .
Pollution levels are distributed unevenly. And many of the major pollutants in relative terms are not seen on the map. For example: Kuwait emitted 22 times more GHG per capita than India in 2014.
Nor are many of the most engaged countries on the map.
Five years ago, in Paris, almost 200 countries established an action plan to limit GHG emissions and promised to revise their objectives every five years to set more ambitious goals, in line with scientific criteria.
The heart of the agreement was the contributions determined at the national level (NDC). Each signatory party pledged to present, every five years, its plan for the updated fight against climate change.
184 parties - including the European Union and its members - delivered their first NDC, while the second report was set for 2020 . Before the Madrid Summit began, only one country had deposited the second document, committing to zero emissions before 2050: the Marshall Islands, whose emissions account for less than 0.001% of the global total. Another 68, which account for 8% of global emissions, have indicated that they will improve their goals next year, according to the 'NDC tracker' of the World Resources Institute (WRI). These are, in many cases, small islands in the process of development for which climate change poses a threat to their existence.
There are 41 countries, including the European Union and its members, that have promised to update their NDC , which does not necessarily mean improving it (it may be, for example, to provide more information on how the objectives already established will be achieved). And large pollutants such as China, India, Indonesia, Brazil or the United States followed, at the beginning of the Summit in Madrid, without signaling their future commitment to curb climate change.
" Not all countries have the same role because there are some that carry the greatest weight of emissions and are some countries that are currently governed by governments that are not for the work," adds Isabel Ruiz, Ramón y Cajal researcher at IN3 Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and expert in environmental education and adaptation to climate change.
Spain still does not strengthen the downward trend
Spain is in a delicate situation. Our position in the ranking of countries at climate risk has risen: in 2017 we were ranked 47 in the most vulnerable countries and today we are in position 38 .
The consequences are multiple and, in many cases, dramatic. To give a fact: in Japan , the country that leads this ranking, 1,300 people died last year due to causes related to extreme weather events .
GHG emissions in Spain, which come mostly from the energy sector, had a growing trend until 2007 . Then a reduction began that, however, has not just consolidated. In 2017, the levels remained above those of 1990 .
International alert, commitments on the air
COP25 arrives with ambition as a flag , with representatives from 200 countries and even with Greta Thunberg. But also with the shadow of doubt: will it work for anything?
It is not the first time that the parties arrive at the meeting with a feeling of ultimatum. The last time was five years ago, in Paris. There, a general consensus was reached on the need to limit the increase in the global average temperature. The expectations were high then , with some skeptical exceptions, and most of the participants had already submitted voluntary emission reduction commitments. However, the appointment in Madrid is more reminiscent of the frustrated Copenhagen Summit in 2009.
" The problem with the summits is that there are very few control mechanisms . Countries can leave whenever they want, as in the case of the US, they can now say yes and within two years leave the agreement, nothing happens," says the researcher Isabel Ruiz.
Thus, summits that have passed with more sorrow than glory remain in the memory. Some recent ones, such as Kyoto or Paris, have reached significant agreements . But they have later seen how signatories of weight have ended up getting out: Canada did it in the first and the United States did it in the second.
The challenge is twofold. On the one hand, get a greater commitment , because the current reduction plans are not enough. And on the other, that this commitment is generalized and real .
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